1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer carrier which is capable of carrying a plurality of wafers for semiconductor wafer processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a plurality of wafer are carried from one processing unit to another or they are in storage for semiconductor wafer processing, a wafer carrier is commonly used to support and maintain them. In general, a wafer carrier is composed of a housing having an interior chamber formed to store the wafers therein and an open top to provide access into the interior chamber. The side walls of the interior chamber have a plurality of grooves having a predetermined spacing where the wafers are stored, respectively. The width of a groove is usually set to two or three times the thickness of a wafer to allow easy loading and unloading. Therefore, in some cases, it is necessary to safely store the wafers in the grooves to prevent the possibility of wafer damage due to vibration and contamination due to airflow caused by the vibration when carried.
A wafer container which can safely store the wafers has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,658. The wafer container is composed of a wafer carrier, a top cover and a bottom cover. The respective wafers stored in the grooves of the wafer carrier are secured with the top and bottom covers each having a plurality of rows of cushioning tabs formed on the inside wall thereof.
However, the above wafer container is not directed to wafer processing but wafer shipment. Therefore, the wafer container needs the top and bottom covers in addition to the wafer carrier. In other words, the conventional wafer carrier of the wafer container cannot secure the wafers to prevent damage and contamination. Further, since the wafers are covered with the top and bottom covers, it is difficult to load and unload the wafer carrier with the wafers. Therefore, the wafer container is not suitable for automation of wafer processing.